ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) following internal fixation of femoral neck fractures is difficult to be cured in clinic.OBJECTIVE: To analyze the literatures concerning ONFH in patients with femoral neck fractures treated with screw internal fixation in recent 15 years, and to summarize the research progress in views of epidemiology, etiology, diagnosis,treatment and rehabilitation.METHODS: Databases of CNKI, WanFang, CqVip, PubMed, Medline, Web of Science were searched with the keywords of femoral neck fracture, osteonecrosis of femoral head, osteonecrosis, internal fixation, internal fixation with screw in English and Chinese, respectively. Afterwards, the reviews and case reports were excluded. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) A total of 54 eligible articles addressing the ONFH following internal fixation for femoral neck fractures were included, and the incidence of ONFH varied from 8.1% to 37.2%, which was found at an average of 17 months after injury. (2) ONFH was found to be related to age, preoperative fracture displacement, preoperative traction,reduction condition, time from injury to operation, elderly patients companied with other diseases, older patients undergoing removal of the screws, closed or open internal fixation, restored time postoperatively, high body mass index, hyperlipidemia, season, and depression. (3) Early prevention and remedial surgery were used to treat ONFH. (4) The patients without weight-bearing activities at 3-6 months postoperatively could be beneficial for functional recovery. (5) These results suggest that choosing appropriate surgical programs and rehabilitation plan can reduce the incidence of ONFH and achieve good treatment outcomes, such as reasonable preoperative planning, standardized operation skills, correct diagnosis and treatment, proper postoperative rehabilitation and good doctor-patient cooperation.